The Nain Rouge

Smash words Edition

Jason Gabriel Kondrath

Nain Rouge Copyright 2020 Jason Kondrath
 Nain Rouge

The Nain Rouge, is a legend that has shaped Detroit, Michigan for decades. The Nain Rouge,
also known as the ‘The Demon of the Strait’ and is believed to be a bad omen for an upcoming
disaster.
It is thought to be a of hobgoblin, described in the tales of the lutin, along with Native American
legends of an "impish offspring of the Stone God.”
A lutin, is a type of hobgoblin (an amusing goblin) in French folklore and fairy tales. Female
lutins are called lutines.
A lutin plays a similar role in the folklore of Normandy to household spirits in England,
Germany and Scandinavia.
"Le Prince Lutin", written in 1697 by Marie Catherine d'Aulnoy has a description of the "air,
water and terrestrial lutin": "You are invisible when you like it; you cross in one moment the vast
space of the universe; you rise without having wings; you go through the ground without dying;
you penetrate the abysses of the sea without drowning; you enter everywhere, though the
windows and the doors are closed; and, when you decide to, you can let yourself be seen in your
natural form."
Lutin is generally translated into English as: brownie, elf, fairy, gnome, goblin, hobgoblin, imp,
leprechaun, puck, or sprite. It can change forms but Lutins are described in temperament as
mischievous as opposed to outright evil.
Curse of Cadillac
According to various narratives surrounding the figure, Detroit's founder Antoine de la Mothe
Cadillac was fore-warned by a fortuneteller before his travels to America, that if he were to ever
stumble upon such a creature to appease it. But upon his travels to Michigan, he encountered the
creature, and thought it a wounded Indian who was blocking his path.
He yelled at the figure several times to give way, to which the creature gave no response. He
smacked it with his cane and shouted, "Get out of my way, you red devil!
The creature badly deformed, wounded and in paid, was full of malice reached up to attack his
horse, which was closer. The horse reared up on two legs and threw Antoine and bolted off. The
creature then ran to attack Antoine, but from the ground, he managed to draw his pistol and shoot
Nain-Rouge, point-blank in the face.
To his astonishment the creature did not die, but ran off in the woods.
Afterwards a series of tragedies befell Antoine, he was charged with abuse of power in his
official capacity and reassigned to Louisiana. More scandals followed and later he was forced to
return to France where he was briefly imprisoned and eventually lost all his fortune.
The city of Cadillac named after its founder Antoine has been cursed ever since.
Legends of le Detroit, published in Detroit in 1883, is a collection of folklore, genealogy, and
family narratives related to the founding and early history of the city. it consists of over 30 folk
stories rooted in Detroit's early history, as well as Native American and French folklore.
The earliest official record of Nain Rouge, was published in Hamlin's Legends of Le Detroit,
wasn't published until 1883, 180 years after Cadillac was cursed by the Nain Rouge.
She had the task of preserving the rapidly fading memory of early French Detroit culture.
Through her mother, she was descended from many of Detroit's earliest settlers, including the
Godfroy, Navarre, and Marentette families. Research on her family background shows that as an
infant in 1850 her family lived in the village of Springwells next door to a household of both
Marentette and Godfroy family members.
"Nain Rouge" which is very much local to the area. Marie Caroline Watson Hamlin's 1883
Legends of Le Detroit described the Nain Rouge as a dwarf, "very red in the face, with a bright,
glistening eye; instead of burning, it froze, instead of possessing depth emitted a cold gleam like
the reflection from a polished surface, bewildering and dazzling all who came within its focus,"
and with "a grinning mouth displaying sharp, pointed teeth, completed this strange face". Other
accounts describe the Nain Rouge as a small creature with red or black fur covering an animal's
body but with the face of an old man with "blazing red eyes and rotten teeth."
According to some scholars, the legend of Nain Rouge has its origins in local Native American
beliefs of spirit creatures that inhabited the region, which were subsequently retold by European
colonists.
History Repeating Itself
Legend holds that Nain Rouge's appearance would presage terrible events for the city. The
creature is said to have appeared on July 30, 1763 before the Battle of Bloody Run, where 58
British soldiers were killed by Native Americans from Chief Pontiac's Ottawa tribe.
The Nain Rouge "danced among the corpses" on the banks of the Detroit River after the battle,
and the river "turned red with blood" for days after. According to the tale, all the misfortunes of
Governor and General William Hull leading to the surrender of Detroit in the War of 1812 are
blamed on the Nain Rouge.
It has been witnessed right before many of the city’s lowest times. For example, it was spotted
by several people racing through the streets on 1805 mere days before much of the city burned to
the ground.
In 1763 just prior to the battle of bloody run.
In 1805 before the great fire
In 1812, during the war of 1812, he attacked William Hull.
It was spotted again in 1812 when the British began bombarding the American forces at Fort
Detroit. When General Hull finally accepted the British unconditional surrender, he reported
that he saw the Nain Rouge leering and laughing at him through the fog as it cleared.
In 1884-1964 he sporadically attacked woman and children.
In 1967, he was said to have been present at the 12th street race riots.
In 1976 (Feb. 29th) he was spotted by a utility worker atop a utility pole (one day prior to
the -great ice storm of 1976). He was chewing on the wire until it was bare and it shocked him,
and the electric bolt caught his clothes on fire. He fell to the ground and still alive went
screaming into an alley.
The next day a historic ice storm left roughly 400,000 residents without electricity.
In March 2010, he was spotted atop the Beethoven Apartments in Cass Corridor, Detroit and
was chased down Cass Avenue by a 300-person mob.

Banned from Detroit

Each Spring, Detroit holds a costumed community parade called the Marche du Nain Rouge in
which the creature is traditionally chased out of the city, although the revival parade stays
entirely within the Midtown/Cass Corridor neighborhood.
At the conclusion of the parade, an effigy of the Nain Rouge is destroyed, thus "banishing the
evil spirit from the city for another year". According to tradition, parade participants and
spectators are encouraged to wear different costumes each year, so that when the Nain Rouge
returns the following year, he will not recognize the persons who ousted him from the city limits
and thus will not be able to seek personal vengeance.
Detroit has been an American city that has seen more downs than ups during its long and sored
history. However, much of this is blamed on the Nain Rouge, so the parade (based on folk-lore),
to organized to banish the Nain Rouge. This year the parade has been banished because of the
Covid, so only time will tell.